PASCACK REGIONAL, N.J.—Congratulations and job well done to two of the most impressive student news organizations in the state, operating right here in the Pascack Valley.
Pascack Valley High School’s PV Student Publication and Pascack Hills High School’s The Trailblazer just brought in dozens of awards in the 2019–2020 Garden State Scholastic Press Association annual award contest, announced via an Instagram livestream Thursday, Feb. 18.
PV Student Publication retained Overall Online Excellence among its 52 awards: 28 individual awards and 24 honorable mentions.
Co-editor-in-chief Spencer Goldstein was named New Jersey High School Journalist of the Year and recipient of the prestigious Bernard Kilgore Memorial Scholarship.
In its inaugural outing to the statewide contest, The Trailblazer bagged six awards, with firsts, and six honorable mentions.
In its own reporting of the haul, PV Student Publication—formerly The Smoke Signal, with its rebranding pending a resolution of the schools’ mascot situation—landed in first place in three main publication awards in its division: Overall Online Excellence, Special Pandemic Coverage, and Distinguished Print Journalism.
PVSP advisor William Rawson, who also is president of the GSSPA, was joined by GSSPA student leaders Nia Watson, Sarah Fajardo, and Rebecca Mastropasqua in bestowing the awards. With him also were PVSP staff editor Abby Shapiro and former co-editor-in-chief Rachel Cohen.
PVSP said nearly 50 viewers joined the livestream, which lasted approximately 90 minutes.
Rawson, who also teaches English at Pascack Valley High School and was named Teacher of the Year, 2020–2021, told Pascack Press on Feb. 23, “It’s the fourth straight year that we won Overall Online Excellence—making us, you could say, the No. 1 online publication in the state.”
He added, “Online awards were created that first year, too, so we’ve gone wire-to-wire so far.”
Rawson said, “The GSSPA partners with the New Jersey Press Association to award two scholarships every year, and any school can enter one senior for either or both (they have to prepare a portfolio). Neither is anything to sneeze at—the lesser one is $2,000. Spencer won the bigger one, the Bernard Kilgore Scholarship, which is $5,000 plus the distinction of being called the New Jersey Journalist of the Year.”
Rawson said that if Goldstein so chooses he can vie for National Journalist of the Year, which the Journalism Education Association awards.
The GSSPA finds out-of-state judges—mostly current or retired journalism teachers and publication advisers—to take care of the judging, he said.
Apanosian, who also teaches English and special education at Pascack Hills, told Pascack Press on Feb. 23, “We are very excited and humbled to have received such recognition. These students have definitely worked hard for it and I’m very very proud of them.”
The PVSP staff roster for 2020–2021 are editors in chief Spencer Goldstein and Ellie Kim; staff editors Abby Shapiro, Ilmie Xhaferi, Isabella Zuluaga, Sarah Buttikofer, and Ava DeVincenzo; sports editor BJ McGrane; assistant sports editor Noah Silver; sports writer Nolan Wasserman; staff writers Megan Austin, Danielle Braune, Emily Moy, and Sarah Shapiro; social media editor Allison Varghese, video editors Hailey Migdal and Julia Chiola; and photographer Matt Austin.
The Trailblazer’s editorial staff for 2020–21: Briana Keenan, Vani Apanosian (advisor), Simmie Brisman, Kate Zydor, Jared Mitovich, Riley Solomon, Maeve Rossig, Christina Kim, Daniel Albert, Justine Marinkovic, Mackenzie Blowers, Lauren Eusebio, Izzy Frangiosa, Claudia Kim, Jacob Charnow, and Siera Boffa.
The Trailblazer took awards in its division for:
- News Writing – 2nd Place – Maeve Rossig, “Alec Boyajian becomes Pascack Hills’ first-ever NJ DECA President”
- Multimedia News – 1st Place – Jared Mitovich, “Police reform, mascot removal underscored at racial equity rally in Woodcliff Lake”
- Broadcast News – 1st Place – Jared Mitovich and Mackenzie Blowers, “‘It’s not just George Floyd’: Hills-Valley equity team plans protest”
- Breaking News – 1st Place – Jared Mitovich, “Board of Education votes to remove Cowboy and Indian mascots at Hills and Valley”
- Pandemic Features – 1st Place – Jared Mitovich, “‘They did not have any tests’: How Covid-19 tore through the Tri-State Area”
- Pandemic Opinion – 3rd Place – Claudia Kim, “How virtual learning is obfuscating self-image”
Honorable mentions:
- News Writing – Lauren Eusebio and Briana Keenan, “Amid vocal praise and criticism, Board says Cowboy and Indian mascot removal is final”
- Feature Writing – Briana Keenan, “From ‘Hills Pride’ to ‘Wagon Wheel’: deMarrais’ impact on Hills”
- Pandemic News – Jared Mitovich, “AP students at Hills encounter errors submitting virtual exams”
- Pandemic News – Jared Mitovich, “National Honor Society hosting contactless food drives outside members’ homes”
- Pandemic Arts & Lifestyle – Lauren Eusebio, “Privilege during a pandemic: how cancel culture continues in quarantine”
- Pandemic Personal Narrative – Sofia Papadopoulos, “From a senior during the coronavirus pandemic”
PV Student Publication’s awards are too numerous to fit in our available space. For both schools’ hauls, and their winning content, visit pvsmokesignal.com and phhstrailblazer.org.
Note: Both PV Student Publication and The Trailblazer are Pascack Press Student Press Partners, a program dedicated to amplifying student voices throughout the Pascack Valley through our pages and creating new opportunities for students and teachers. If your school wants to get involved in this project, with or without an established news program, write editor John Snyder at pascackpress@thepressgroup.net.